Reduction of Homelessness - Essay Sample

Introduction

The issue of homelessness is a broad, complex, dangerous, and isolating issue affecting many in the contemporary society. In fact, it has been a persistent problem to several countries worldwide with reigning governments struggling to resolve its challenges. According to Housing and Urban Development's Annual Point-in-Time Count, a national-wide study on homelessness, over 552, 000 people in the United States experienced homelessness every night in 2018. Based on these statistics, 17 out of every 10,000 people were living in transitional houses, streets, abandoned infrastructures, or any other place not suitable for human habitation (Akinluyi & Adedokun, 2014). Homeless people encounter numerous challenges that end up affecting society in adverse ways. For instance, those without permanent residential areas may be easily targeted by antisocial elements forcing them to engage in violent activities. Therefore, to promote equality and resolve the social-economic crisis associated with homelessness, the administration and the public ought to formulate and implement policies and programs aimed at reducing the high rate of homelessness. Initiatives aimed at improving living standards of affected individuals or families would turn to be a more effective approach in resolving the issue of homelessness as compared to any other programs instigated in society.

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Different Types of Homelessness

Having a common resolution to homelessness may be difficult as homeless people can be classified into different categories. In fact, each group has its limitations, which has made it difficult for governments and societies to formulate a program to take care of all cases of homelessness.

Rough Sleeping

The most visible form of homelessness is rough sleeping. It involves sleeping in public spaces that have not been designated or suitable for human habitation. According to an autumn of 2017, they were about 4750 individuals sleeping rough in England every single night. However, this was just an estimation, as rough sleeping is a common occurrence in the United Kingdom, the United States, and France among other European nations. Living on the streets is precarious and expose affected people to several health syndromes and complicated wellbeing.

In Temporary Accommodation

As of December 2017, over 78, 930 households were in temporary accommodation hosting hundreds of thousands of people in America. In this case, the highest percentage of affected people are dependent on children and pregnant women (Semuels, 2016). The length of time people can reside in a temporary residence can range from a day to years. Some of these accommodations include hostels, winter shelters, social houses, and women refugee camps. However, each residence has its regulations on access and length of stay, which may not be appropriate to all people staying in there.

Hidden Homelessness

A considerable number of homeless people are rarely accumulated in statistics as they deal with their situation informally. Some of the hidden homelessness practices may include staying with relatives and friends, sofa surfing, and residing in unsuitable houses such as squats or sheds (Wright, 2017). In most cases, the affected people are left vulnerable to rough sleeping effects, which include segregation and health problems such as depression.

Statutory Homelessness

In most countries, local governments have a duty to secure a home for needy people and civil servants. As a result, thousands of civilians apply for government assistance to secure a place to live. Mostly, those who benefit from such initiatives are dependent children and those that are vulnerable in society. However, they are guidelines and qualifications that one have to meet before being considered for these facilities. Likewise, the housing is just for a moment as affected people look for affordable accommodation.

Factors Resulting in Increased Cases of Homelessness

Different factors have also been contributing to increased rates of homelessness worldwide. Some of them are social, political and even economic in nature and need to be addressed at the roots to ensure everyone can afford accommodation (Semuels, 2016). Lack of affordable housing and limited scale of housing assistance programs is one of the primary causes of the housing crisis. Likewise, homelessness and poverty are closely intertwined. The less fortunate people in the society are unable to pay for housing, food, and healthcare and are forced to make difficult choices with most of them foregoing appropriate accommodation for food and clothes among other priorities.

The issue of homelessness has also been made worse by lack or limited employment opportunities, a decline of public assistance, domestic violence, drug addiction, and mental illnesses. For instance, in recent years unemployment rates have been relatively high increasing civilian dependency levels and poverty (Henwood et.al, 2015). Consequently, a considerable number of people cannot afford suitable accommodation.

Solution to Homelessness

The primary solution to homelessness menace does not depend on assistance programs but actions aimed at reducing poverty levels in the affected countries. In most cases, the word homelessness has been used interchangeably with an affordable housing crisis. Unfortunately, governments and societies just look at people sleeping in the doorways and park benches as the homeless, but those are just the iceberg of the prevailing situation (Semuels, 2016). They are millions of people, including families who do not have keys to their houses or apartments. The issue of homelessness has intensified, as Income levels have remained stagnant for a long period despite living standards getting high annually. As a result, a number of people spending more than half of their earnings on housing making accommodation unaffordable especially among low-income earners.

By taking the United States as an example, the issue of homelessness began to be a persisted problem approximately thirty years ago, when the federal government withdrew its support for public housing and other subsidies to low-income people. As a result, with shelter being a basic need people have been dividing their earnings to cater for their wants with some foregoing decent housing for other needs such as education, clothing, and food. Today, house rents have increased but civilians incomes are still stagnating and this situation has increased cases of homelessness. In fact, some families are residing in isolated areas not suitable for human habitation.

Governments and societies should thrive to increase the minimum federal wages and salaries to enable the common citizen to cater to his or her needs. For instance, with a standard and sustainable income, people can afford to pay rental fees without being strained (Gray, 2018). Likewise, some would build their own residential places and enroll in the mortgage funding for them to secure a house of their own. With such actions, the demand for rental houses would decrease and this would subsequently lead to a reduction of rental fees. More people would then afford to stay in areas suitable for human habitation without depending on government intervention or well-wishers.

Some would feel that the government has an obligation to offer affordable houses to its citizens. The assumption may be right but such initiatives may not last for long due to the affordability of such programs. In fact, most countries have been struggling to reduce their expenditure on activities that rarely generate income (Padgett, Henwood & Tsemberis, 2016). Therefore, by providing housing to homeless people the initiative may not last for long, as it would overstretch taxpayers. Likewise, re-stalling public subsidies to enable people to cater to their rents would also have a similar overload to taxpayers.

Mainly, the housing crisis is caused by lack of adequate finances and this should be the root of resolving problems associated with homelessness. For instance, in the United States, employment rates are still high with the majority of people failing to afford safe housing (Semuels, 2016). With initiatives aimed at increasing job opportunities and the minimum federal wage, people would meet their daily needs and cater to their accommodation. The remaining homelessness cases would be few as they would be because of issues such as domestic violence, addiction, and mental illness, which are not the main contributors to the problem. In fact, even if the government promised to offer housing assistance to homeless and unemployed people, only a few would manage to raise capital to cater to the remaining cost and their basic needs. However, with a constant source of income, the poverty level would decrease and people would invest in housing, which would resolve homelessness risks.

Conclusion

In conclusion, others are several suggested solutions to homelessness, the most effective one would be initiating programs aimed at improving the living standards of people. Some of these include creating job opportunities and raising the minimum federal wage in accordance with increasing living standards. The programs would reduce dependency levels, poverty, and blame on government and society on the issue of homelessness. In fact, individuals would not only afford secure houses but they would also invest in building their apartments and houses. However, to address the issue of homelessness, there is a need to integrate several solutions, which includes issuing government assistance and subsidies and offering affordable housing.

References

Akinluyi, M. L., & Adedokun, A. (2014). Urbanization, Environment, and Homelessness in the Developing world: The Sustainable Housing Development. Mediterranean Journal of Social Sciences, 5(2), 261.

Gray, A. (2018). Here is how Finland solved its homelessness problem. Retrieved from https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2018/02/how-finland-solved-homelessness/

Henwood, B., Wenzel, S. L., Mangano, P. F., Hombs, M., Padgett, D. K., Byrne, T., & Uretsky, M. C. (2015). The grand challenge of ending homelessness.

Padgett, D., Henwood, B. F., & Tsemberis, S. J. (2016). Housing First: Ending homelessness, transforming systems, and changing lives. Oxford University Press, USA.

Semuels, A. (2016). How Can the U.S. End Homelessness? Retrieved from https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2016/04/end-homelessness-us/479115/

Wright, J. (2017). Address unknown: The homeless in America. Rutledge.